Less Calories, More Charity

Food available in the market is ridiculously high priced. A chicken burger from a nearby shop costs around 200 bucks and if you go to some famous food joint, that same burger would cost around 500 bucks at least.The story of desi foods available in the market is not different from these high priced fast food options. A double plate of biryani from a famous biryani restaurant have a price point of nearly 200 rupees, a plate of nihari for a single person is around 100 rupees, add two nan (loaf) in it with a stingy fizzy cola drink and your bill goes to almost 200 rupees.

Time and again adverts by the food joints attract us with their “all you can eat deals” that cost around 1000 rupees per person. Yes, 1000 rupees is what you spend for few hours and enjoy unlimited food. But the question here is how much a person can eat in a single sitting? Two nan, half chicken, one plate curry, one plate rice, some sauces, drinks, or a bowl of dessert. Nothing more a normal person can gulp down in a single session. All these items are not worth more than 500 or 600 rupees. So, a person ends up wasting money and consuming a lot of calories.

Drawing a rough estimate here, a normal middle class person spends around 5000 rupees in a month dining out, whereas the number must be much higher if we talk about the affluent class. Ever thought how many needy or hungry people we could feed in just 5000 rupees? In just 100 rupees you can feed 2 parathas, one egg and tea which is more than enough for a single person. A bun kabab with egg in just 50 rupees and 2 nan and a plate of haleem in just 100 rupees. So in 1000 rupees ten hungry people can be fed at a time. So, if we put limit to our eating out habits and reserve other part of money for charity to feed hungry people, we would be able to feed 20 to 30 persons once in a month. Feeding underprivileged can bring inner satisfaction; it also poses positive impacts on health of the caregiver. In this way, one can restrict his/her intake of unhealthy food and empty which in turn reduces the hospital bills.

So next time before planning to go out with friends or family to a high class restaurant or to some famous burger joint, think about spending those bucks to feed people who cannot afford to eat even once a day. Before stuffing extra calories in your body, think of those who eat out of garbage. Before eating the juicy fried chicken that coats your body with extra fats, think about someone who will sleep empty stomach tonight. Spending on fancy feasts might not make you poor, but eating additional calories will defiantly harm your health. Take fewer calories, but make more charity.